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Teaching Excellence Awards

The Teaching Excellence program is an opportunity to recognize individuals for their contributions to the University through excellence as teachers. The selection of excellent university teachers is based upon knowledge of subject matter; quality of lectures and assignments; enthusiasm for teaching; interest in and availability to students; sensitivity to the learning environment; effectiveness as a teacher as assessed through student, peer, and alumni evaluations; commitment to continuous improvement of their own classroom teaching; and contributions to the quality of teaching within the University through assistance and encouragement of other faculty.

Each College of the University selects a member of its faculty to receive a Teaching Excellence Award. During this convocation, each College recipient will also be recognized with a University Teaching Excellence Award.

The Teaching Excellence program has been rewarding teaching excellence at Stephen F. Austin State University since the program's inception in 1994.

This year's awards will take place on Wednesday, April 16th, 2014

TEACHING EXCELLENCE RECIPIENTS 2014

2014: Angela Bacarisse: College of Fine ArtsProfessor Bacarisse received her MFA in Theatre Design from the University of Memphis and her BA in Theatre from the University of Delaware. She has been on the faculty at SFA since 2001 where she specializes in clothing history and design for the stage. Her research and innovations in tailoring Men's 18th century clothing has been presented at the United States Institute for Theatre Technology, as well as her designs from several SFA Theatre productions. Professional and University Design credits include costumes and lighting for Theatre, Dance and Opera Companies from New England to Texas including The Texas Shakespeare Festival and the Appalachian Summer Repertory Theatre. She has also worked as a costume technician at theatres such as the Alley Theatre in Houston, and on the movies Great Balls of Fire, Hearts of Dixie, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, and the television show Elvis; Good Rocking Tonight.

2014: Dr. Keith Hubbard: College of Sciences and MathematicsDr. Hubbard joined the Department of Mathematics at Stephen F. Austin State University in 2005 after earning his Doctorate degree in mathematics at the University of Notre Dame specializing in vertex operator coalgebras. He earned his Bachelor's degree in mathematics at Point Loma Nazarene University. Keith's research now focuses primarily on mathematics education and he currently serves as Co-PI and Project Director for the NSF-funded Talented Teachers in Training for Texas Program and on the Mathematics Association of America's Committee on Articulation and Placement. He is also initiating a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Residential Learning Community this fall.

2014: Dr. Stephen Kosovich: Rusche College of BusinessStephen Kosovich joined the Rusche College of Business in the fall of 2005 after earning an M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from the University of Oregon and a B.A. in economics from Willamette University. Since then, he has primarily taught undergraduate courses in economics including Principles of Microeconomics and Macroeconomics, Labor Economics and Sports Economics. Stephen's primary research focus has been on understanding the impact of job losses on workers. He has also collaborated with several students to research such diverse topics as faculty labor supply, student class demand, local economic development policies, and the economics of college athletics.

2014: Dr. Matthew McBroom: Arthur Temple College of Forestry and AgricultureDr. Matthew McBroom joined the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture in 2006 after earning his Ph.D. from SFASU in Forestry. His BSF and MSF degrees are also from SFA. His specialization is water resources and hydrology and he teaches several related classes in Forestry and in the Division of Environmental Science. He has supervised 5 master's theses and currently has 3 Ph.D. and 5 Master's students working on a variety of water resources issues ranging from water quality to river and reservoir management. He received the National Young Forester Leadership award from the Society of American Foresters in 2010 and the Research, Development, and Innovation Award from the Texas Forestry Association in 2013.

2014: Dr. Jannah Nerren: James I. Perkins College of EducationDr. Nerren is an associate professor of Early Childhood Education. She joined the Department of Elementary Education faculty in 2006 after teaching in elementary and early childhood settings. She completed both her Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education and her Master's degree in Early Childhood Education at SFA, and her Ph.D. in Education at Capella University, Minneapolis. She currently serves as the Program Coordinator for the Early Childhood through 6th Grade Teacher Certification Program. She involves her students in research regarding indirect language stimulation techniques for English Language Learners and the impact of mentoring for children from poverty.

2014: Dr. Jeff Roth: College of Liberal and Applied ArtsDr. Roth is from Arlington, Texas, and earned a B.A. in Criminal Justice from Stephen F. Austin State University. He became a certified police officer and worked in law enforcement until entering graduate school. Roth returned to SFA and earned an M.A. in History, taught history and then worked as a research specialist for the Center for East Texas Studies and the Stone Fort Museum. Roth continued his graduate work at the University of Oklahoma where he earned a Ph.D. in Geography and completed his formal education at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law with a Master of Resources Law Studies degree. He returned to SFA as a member of the faculty in 2007, earned tenure in 2013, and continues as an associate professor of Geography. Roth is an active faculty adviser for Geography Club and SFA's Association of Home Brewers. His research interests include limited resource agriculture, Black Texans before 1865, and ecology within the Rio Grande basin.

2014: Keith R. New: Nelson Rusche College of Business (Adjunct Teaching Award Recipient)Mr. Keith R. New joined the Department of Business Communication and Legal Studies as an adjunct faculty in 2009 and began teaching Business Communication, Business Ethics and Society, and Human Resource Management courses at the undergraduate level. He received his BA in English from Stephen F. Austin State University and an MBA from Texas A & M University. New's 25 years of private sector, management experience, including time with two Fortune 500 companies, provides him with industry-related examples that apply the theories of business communication, business ethics, and human resources and allow him to relate the principles of the disciplines in a manner students can relate to.